Sales chief says Boeing won 571 orders and commitments

According to U.S. plane maker Boeing, Malaysia Airlines has operated nearly every derivative of the 737 airplane family and now operates more than 50 Next-Generation 737s. "This is probably one of our busiest air shows". The order was previously attributed to an unidentified customer.

The A321 is larger than any previous member of the 737 family, an important gap in the minds of some airlines that the larger-capacity MAX 10 is meant to address.

Boeing [NYSE:BA] and Ruili Airlines today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for 20 737 MAX airplanes at the 2017 Paris Air Show. Yes, it is. Are we conceding that Boeing sold a few more airplanes than we did? "Yes", Leahy told a news conference.

Boeing topped up its tally by announcing a firm order for 125 737 MAX 8 airplanes with an undisclosed customer and another deal with lessor AerCap to convert 15 of its MAX 8 orders into the larger MAX 10.

Pledges to buy the new single-aisle 737 Max 10, which Boeing began marketing in Paris to rival Airbus's A321neo, amounted to 361 airliners, he said.

Overall, the numbers were still impressive for a show where analysts expected muted demand.

"Is this a slower show than previous years, yes it is", admitted Airbus CEO, John Leahy. However, executives at Airbus say that the Max 10 is a bigger threat to other models from Boeing than to the Airbus Neo.

Malaysia Airlines has been on the lookout to purchase 25 to 30 new wide-body jets, but has so far been unable to agree on a price for the planes. "They're clearly going to come after us on price". "The 737 MAX 10 will be the most profitable single-aisle airplane, offering the lowest seat costs ever and will help Copa Airlines grow their business and win market share in the competitive single-aisle market".

The A321 is larger than any member of the 737 family, a gap that the MAX 10 is meant to close.